Sharlto Copley, left, in character as Wikus Van De Merwe, and his associates (Mandla Gaduka, centre, and Kenneth Nkosi) prepare to clear out an alien slum in the South African sci-fi thriller District 9. Nigerian officials are unhappy with the film's portrayal of Nigerians as gangsters, prostitutes and cannibals. (TriStar/Sony Pictures)       

Nigerian officials say they've asked cinemas to stop screening the sci-fi movie District 9, filmed in South Africa, because of its portrayal of Nigerians.

Information Minister Dora Akunyili said Saturday that the movie — a thinly veiled apartheid tale involving aliens — portrays Nigerians as cannibals and gangsters.

"We have written to the producer and distributor of the film, Sony Entertainment, expressing our displeasure and demanded an apology," Akunyili said.

"We have asked that the areas where Nigeria and [former Nigerian president Olusegun] Obasanjo are mentioned should be edited from the film."

Akunyili says she has asked the country's film and censor board to confiscate copies of District 9.

In the movie, a gang leader has the nickname Obasanjo.

Government officials first saw the movie, produced by Lord of the Rings helmer Peter Jackson, at a private screening Wednesday.

Directed by former Vancouver resident Neill Blomkamp, District 9 shows Nigerian prostitutes dating alien customers and the gang leader Obasanjo trying to cut off and eat the arm of the film's protagonist.

The film revolves around an alien ship that appears over Johannesburg one day. It shows people wanting to eat aliens in order to gain superhuman powers.

The aliens on board are segregated into a walled area known as District 9 but after 30 years, government officials try to relocate the aliens, with catastrophic results.

With files from The Associated Press